So I'm using Dresden Files RPG to run a Monster Hunters mashup game at a convention this Saturday. Basically, it's a League of Extraordinary Monster Hunters from the last 30 years or so. Current characters include:

Wheedonverse: Buffy, Angel, Spike
Doctor Who: The Doctor
Ghostbusters: Peter Venkman
Men In Black: J
Hellboy: Hellboy

I'd like to add a few more choices for my players, and I could really use some help generating aspects for additional characters.

I'm going with a High Concept, Trouble, and three more, leaving a couple of empty slots for players to fill in.

If anyone is inspired to write some aspects for the following, you'd have me deepest gratitude.

Wheedonverse: Willow
Doctor Who: Captain Jack Harkness (more Doctor Who than Torchwood), River Song
Ghostbusters: Ray, Egon and Winston
X-Files: Dr. Dana Scully

Or anyone else you can think of. Thanks.

I was just re-reading the description of Sponsored Magic, and I realized I may have been messing up the application of sponsor debt this whole time.  The last paragraph on 288 says, in part, "Once per roll, you may invoke an aspect without spending a fate point. Doing so adds one to the debt between you and your sponsor."

I had always interpreted that as applying only to spell-casting rolls, sort of an alternative to taking backlash when you blow you control roll. But I think it's intended to refer to ANY roll, under any circumstances.

Anyone have any thoughts about that?

Let's say we have a caster who uses Seelie (Summer) Magic, in addition to evocation and thaumaturgy.  The caster wants to make an item that improves his Biomancy, which he can perform using the method of either thaumaturgy or evocation. Would a focus item that helps in one case be effective in the other, or would he need separate items for each method?

So I have a character who's has Greek gods for his patrons, granting him access to sponsored magic (and an Item of Power as well, but that's another post).  I have some ideas about how this flavor of sponsored magic would work, but I think I could use a few more.

How should the sponsored magic of the Greek Pantheon work, generally?  How much should it vary it based on the character's primary patron deity or deities?



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Specifically, if your primary patrons are Athena and Hermes, what should your magic look like?



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More specifically, if Athena wants you to promote the idea of the classic Greek hero, and you're a great big comic book geek, while Hermes wants you to be a kick-ass-messenger-of-the-gods, and you work as a bike messenger in New York City.  And they already gave you magic wings for you helmet and bike shoes?

This is definitely a "Your Mileage May Vary," "Depend on what kind of game your group wants" sort of area, but have you used the narrative authority of Taken Out and Concessions to avoid killing NPCs, especially mortals?

It seems to me that, worst case scenario, your wizard is fighting a mortal villain (with an allied Warden literally looking over your shoulder), and you Take him Out with a blast of magical fire, the player doesn't need to fear killing the target, since he can describe how the villain is Taken Out by his attack.  "A ball of flame explodes right in front of him, and expands exactly far enough to burn away his shirt, his chest hair, and his eyebrows, and give him a first degree burn.  He drops his gun and surrenders."

On the other hand, if the villain choses to concede rather than suffer a consequence earlier in the fight, the GM and the players have to negotiate the terms of the NPC's defeat.  If we're looking at the concession from the NPC's point of view, they're not going to chose death as the circumstances for their defeat.  But if we're looking at it from the GM's point of view, and the GM wants to cause this particular kind of trouble for the PC, he can offer a "Yeah, that blast of fire kills the guy" concession.  Then the player has to negotiate for a less severe outcome, or refuse the concession, so that he can continue the fight and Take Out the NPC without killing him.

Could lead to some rather counter intuitive situations, I'd imagine.  Hasn't happened to me yet in our game, but our Red Court Infected gun-bunny character was asking me if victories gained through firepower are possible without NPC death.  I wasn't quite sure how to handle it.  I'll probably let them get away with irresponsible use of force most of the time, unless there's an opportunity for a nice, juicy, life complicating compel.

Making an enchanted item for one of my villains.  Jason stop reading now

He's a Nazi Wizard, so of course he has a swagger stick and jackboots.  It's the boots I'm wondering about.  Great Lore, so thats +4, and he's devoting an extra slot to bump it up to +5.  It's going to be an earth attack, sending a shockwave through the floor.  My question is do I need to specify ahead of time whether the boots are an attack or a maneuver, or can I decide at the time the villain uses it?  Can I do nifty stuff like attacking an entire zone by sacrificing two shifts?

My first inclination is to go with True Compassion.

Might be better to phrase it as True Love, but to make clear a distinction between True Eros, the anti-Raith emotion, and True Agape, roughly "love for your fellow human being".

Any thoughts?

Edit: Or maybe I mean True Philia.  I'm not 100% clear on the precise flavorings of the ancient Greek words.